Scarlett
by Virtual Delirium
Summary: Subdued by a writer's block, Ann Takamaki hopes for a muse that will help her write a fan fiction story about Joker and Panther. [Tags: Shujinkō x Ann Week 2019, Day 3 - Coffee, No powers AU]


Shujinkō x Ann Week

~Coffee~

"Scarlett"

* * *

**Author's Note: This is a non-powers AU (alternate universe). Ren and Ann do not know each other at start. Neither of them are Phantom Thieves. They are university students in a normal world.**

**The one-shot makes a fictional representation of fan fiction, usernames and fandom(s). All usernames were made up using a random word generator, then me just throwing random numbers onto them, anyhow. Any similarities to real-life aliases are purely coincidental and unintentional.**

**As of 2nd July, 2019 at 1816 hours, no website called flanfiction point net exists.**

* * *

.

Her apartment door's lock automatically clicked upon closing. Ann ordered her pump sandals onto the shoe rack, sighing contently as her toes curled onto the mushy carpet. What a tiring day.

Stolid black shapes rose in the dark living room. The couch, TV, end tables and other furniture entablatures. Beyond her silent housemates was a full door-glass betwixt Ann's tiny 5th floor patio, giving her a view of blurry streetlights reflected on the wet surface of the newly paved charcoal road.

Ann paused at the laptop she left on her coffee table. The machine's I/O power button was glowing white in the dark, waiting in standby mode.

_Right then…Gotta decide if I want to submit that fanfic_, thought Ann.

Buttons unbuttoned. Shower steams seamed running water droplets on Ann's skin. Ann raised her head up to the showerhead, eyes closed. The hot water warmed her muscles, relaxing her taut body. In Ann's mind, the day's hustle was washing away, leaving a blank slate…

…ink bled on the slate. Splatters curled into letters with flourishing curlicues, forming word carriages of a locomotive train the reader would travel in. Character dialogues, plot threads and lines, interweaving tendrils one around the other. Ideas Ann never thought or anticipated once, popped up in her mind like popcorn kernels going off in the microwave.

She hardly understood this part of herself. There were times when Ann felt like she was not the writer of her own fanfics and novels, but rather a puppet of some cosmic mischief maker, dangling her strings at the keyboard to type out feelings and stories once-beyond her comprehension.

Not that she minded. Ann enjoyed this inner sanctum of hers. Mathematics and physicists chased for infinite in neutrinos and patterns. Ann believed that infinite existed in her head.

_Thirty minutes later._

After loading the dishwasher, Ann picked up her cup of steaming cocoa and marshmallows. The laptop's screen flashed, opening up the Firefox browser.

▌flanfiction .net

▌▌Log In: Scarlett

▌▌▌Password: GoneWithDWind39

Ann clicked on the list of her submitted fan fictions. Some of her older stories made Ann wince. Gosh, she was so bad at writing when she was fourteen. Part of her sometimes felt compelled to delete the obscene writing. The other part of her was too sentimental about the fluffy premise of Makoto Yuki and Yukari playing rock paper scissors for the last cookie. Or Rise taking care of Yu while he was sick with a cold.

Ann dropped the cursor further down, to her more recent one-shots. The numbers like 'Favourites' and 'Reviews' count rose.

Ann joggled her shoulders. Yes! She did get better at this. Eventually, Ann started to write stories she was still quite proud of. Ann was still giddy over her second last one-shot being the runner up winner in this fan-organised fanfic competition. It was not the home-run win, but Ann's appreciation for the recognition was unrestrained.

She took a sip of the cocoa. Yum.

_Hmm. I haven't replied to the last batch of reviews_, thought Ann.

Ann clicked on the review section for her last submitted one-shot. A ficlet piece she wrote for the _Phantom Thieves V _fandom of her most recent OTP, Joker and Panther.

The first review was from a loyal reader, who reviewed every story of this ship.

▌sweater183: Ahh! I really liked your take on their 'Encounter' scene. It's such an important one in the game (I don't think any other waifu gets a dedicated animated scene, do they?). The whole thing just screams 'Koi no Yokan'. Thank you for writing this! 3

"Thank you," Ann murmured under her breath.

Ann could not understate just how much she appreciated sentiments from readers. Users who went out their way to write her reviews, making her feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. Ann typed a reply:

▌Scarlett: Hey sweater! It's always nice to see your review 😊 Yes, I agree. It's a _pretty _important scene dedicated for Joker & Panther, which helps tie into the whole picture of why I love this ship so much. The romantic context is always implied in the game, no matter who the player chooses to romance. Thanks for the support! XOXO

The second review was from 'shift661'. Ann had seen this user review other fan fics on the occasional times she checked out other authors' review section. This was the first time she had seen this user in one of hers.

▌shift661: I liked how you added detail with how Panther likes to gravitate to Joker. I have this headcanon that Panther is starved for physical contact as a form of affection since her parents are hardly around and most of her peers are cold towards her, trying to ostracize her for how she looks.

Oooh that was a good one. Ann typed her reply:

▌Scarlett: O.O I LOVE THAT. Omg, it also kind of makes sense too, right? In the Disneyland date, she asked Joker if she could hold his hand. Thanks for sharing your headcanon, shift 😊 XO

The third came from a 'Guest':

▌Guest: Nice.

_?_

Ann took another sip, scratching her head. Not that she _particularly _minded one-word reviews, but they were somewhat…_? ? ? _for her.

Two more reviews. Both positive. Ann typed her replies to them, humming to herself. Not a bad-turnout, she decided. Ann was about to exit the window when she realised she almost missed one more reviewer. From 'clock048'.

▌clock048: Will you ever try your hand at writing a long-fic for Phantom Thieves V?

Ann paused. She did not recognise this username.

_A long-fic…_thought Ann.

Her pink nail-polished finger shifted, double tapping on the touchpad. A folder with Word documents opened. Ann clicked on the most recently created doc, simply titled, 'Long-fic AU'.

A scrambled mess of plot notes and loose pieces of paragraphs greeted Ann. This was a project she had been working on for the past week, but there were so many things Ann felt she did not have pinned down. For starters, what kind of personality was she going to give to the blank-slate P5 Protagonist? With the only ficlet she'd written about the game, Ann winged it with the lean 700-word length. Joker did not say much in the scene.

_If I'm going to write a long story about 'Phantom Thieves V', I'll need a firm grip of what kind of protagonist I'm writing. Long-fics are a lot more detail heavy_, thought Ann.

Ann thought about it. What kind of person should he be? Her mind came up with blanks and wish-washy dialogue options from the game. No. Not good. No good ideas were coming to mind.

"Seriously," Ann said to herself aloud.

A loose strand of blonde hair fell between her eyes. Ann puffed it up, feeling kind of dejected. Writers block always sucked.

Ann looked at clock048's question. She typed:

▌Scarlett: I will. Once I find my muse! :)

At least Ann knew who Joker was going to be paired with. Panther of course. Always.

* * *

_One week later_.

Earthenware pots of plots served as the concert stage for the chirruping birds that came to rest by the second-story windows and its racks of rectangular flowerbeds. A cerulean warbler puffed its chest, beating its wings rowdily against the bellflowers basking in the morning sun.

Beneath the flowerbeds, hung a wooden sign shaped in the likeness of a coffee mug. It read:

Café Leblanc

~~Shujin University~~

University students milled into the franchise café, for their cravings of caffeine and social before the three-hour lectures. An observer would notice that most of the café's customers were…women. And for good reasons. To be specific, three reasons. The staff that worked at this café were Sakamoto Ryuji, Kitagawa Yusuke and-

The window shutters opened. Two tattoo sleeved arms stretched out.

And Amamiya Ren.

Ren yawned, blinking blearily against the dappled sunlight. His moue lifted his snake-bite piercings on his lower lip by a slight, unhappy with his morning breath. Tasted like sleep after redolent sex.

The chattering crowd outside of Leblanc paused to look at the topless college boy. Eyelashes fluttered, knickers got wet, hair manes were flipped and even a few appreciative glances were given from heterosexual men, who liked how Ren's lithe lines melded with his ink and chrome piercings.

Ren crookedly smiled at them. It was dandy. It was devilish. It was devastatingly hot.

Immediately - the line into the café thickened. Ren looked at the phone in his hand, rubbing the sleepy dust from his eyes:

_Ren: Can I leave now? _

_Ryuji: Not yet _

_Ren: -.- _

_Ryuji: Stay longer. We need this place filled up to the brim every morning _

_Ryuji: Gotta make the owner happy when he visits to check our monthly KPIs _

_Ren: You actually know what a KPI is? _

_Ryuji: I do now, after he chewed our ears off for last October! _

_Ryuji: We spent too much on the Halloween marketing _

_Ren: I don't know Ryuji…I kind of felt cute dressing up for Halloween _

_Ren: The customers liked it ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) _

_Ryuji: Eff that _

_Ryuji: We have to work harder now _

_Ren: Which entails me standing half naked to the world _

_Ren: I feel sexually objectified (/ω＼) _

_Ryuji: Was before or after you brought home your bi-weekly one night stands? _

Ren looked back. On his bed was an hourglass figure draped in a white comforter. Deep asleep.

_Ren: How'd you know that? _

_Ryuji: Waking up late for your morning shift even though you live upstairs the café, u fuk **ツ ** _

• • • • _Yusuke is typing_.

_Yusuke: Is she still asleep? _

_Ren: You are not sketching her, Yusuke _

_Ren: I don't want her sticking around _

_Yusuke: I have not even made such a proposal _

_Yusuke: Although … _

_Yusuke: Must you snip your strings so quickly with women, Ren? **(****・****_****・ヾ**_

_Ren: There were no strings to begin with _

_Ren: Can I leave now? The birds look like they're wobbling dizzy from my bad breath _

_Ryuji: We're good. You can leave _

_Ryuji: Get yo ass down here. It's going to be a full house soon _

_Yusuke: Yes, Ren. The presence of your derriere will be of tremendous assistance in attending to our patrons _

#

Ann slid in the booth. At the opposite, Ann's best friend; her ten-year compadre and ever-reliable beta reader, Shiho Suzui - considered the menu booklet.

Ann leaned to the left, having a gander at the establishment. Café Leblanc's interior was one of those long-way eateries, like you see in hipster alleys. Her cheeks warmed up the glowy lighting. Ann raised her chin, breathing deeply the wafting scents of fresh coffee, spice and curry. It was a lucky thing they managed to grab a table just now.

"You said you come by here often? Pretty snazzy joint," asked Ann.

Shiho nodded, her eyes peering over the ocular specs she was recently prescribed.

"See anything you like?" asked Shiho.

Ann looked into the menu. Spicy curries and coffee blends were Leblanc's specialty. Cloves, spices and Esmeralda Geishas detailing the selection. . .Ann frowned to herself. She was having a hard time getting her head into this.

"Hmm…"

Shiho pushed up her glasses, looking closer at Ann.

"It's still bothering you, isn't it? The block," said Shiho.

"…you're right."

"Still no idea how you're going to write Joker?" asked Shiho.

Ann hugged herself, rubbing the side of her arms.

"It's like…I can't type anything about Joker with cadence or intelligence. He needs to make sense with the rest of the story. I feel like I already know Panther already. She's like the alter ego I never knew I had. But Joker? Hard blank, Shiho."

"Have you thought of looking at other fanfics and deriving inspiration?" asked Shiho.

"Somewhat. It's just…there's so few Joker x Panther fics. Also, I kinda feel grossed out-" Ann loured, "-reading him with a certain other ship."

"Jealous, aren't we?" teased Shiho.

Ann blithely stuck her tongue out.

"Hardly. He _is_ \- OTP with Panther… I know that much," said Ann.

"But not how you want to write him for your long-fic."

"Yeah…Urgh…this sucks. You'd think 120 hours on my save file would mean something," said Ann.

One of the staff, a blond guy with an easy-going grin prompted at their table.

"Hello ladies. Suzui-san. Nice to see you this week," he said.

"Hey Ryuji!" greeted Shiho.

Ann looked between Ryuji and Shiho. It was reddening at Shiho's neck. Ann raised an eyebrow. Beneath the table, Shiho's Skechers kicked on Ann's shin. Her code for 'Embarrass me and you die'.

"Ready to take ya' orders? It's fine if you need more time," said Ryuji.

"Oh! Umm…" Shiho glanced distractedly at the menu.

"I don't suppose you could give Shiho a glass of water? She looks like she needs to cool off-" More kicking, "-oomph!"

"Yes! Just water for now will be fine!" Shiho quickly added.

"Sure. You okay?" Ryuji asked Ann, who was grimacing.

Ann held out two thumbs up, her peach-glossed lips quirking.

"Perfect," Ann gasped.

"We'll be ready to order in a minute," said Shiho.

"No problem!"

Their glasses of water arrived. Ann traced Ryuji going back to the main coffee bar that was in the centre of this Leblanc establishment. There was also a blue-haired man working there. Ann could tell the caffeinators really liked them, especially the women. A bunch of them were crowded at the main bar, trying to chat the lads up and preening. It made Ann think of peacocks.

"There's two of them?" asked Ann.

"Three. The other guy is Yusuke. Third is Ren, who might be the main reason why anyone would come here to drink overpriced coffee called…" Shiho squinted at the menu, "…Indonesian Kopi Luwak."

"Why is that?"

"…you'll know when you see him. So! This writers block of yours – we need to do something about that," said Shiho.

Ann's shoulders slumped forward.

"Like what?"

"I don't know…maybe the reason you're so blank on Panther's boyfriend is because you hardly date these days," said Shiho – drinking from her glass.

"Yeah…well I've kinda been spoiled by fictional guys in eroges," said Ann, pouting.

Shiho half-choked on her water. Ann handed her a serviette, as she tried to cough it out.

"Let me know if you see one of those types in real life," added Ann.

His voice came low yet ever more audible than Ann's PS Vita speakers.

"G'day mavourneens. Welcome to Le - blanc. Are you ready to order?" asked the sable-haired boy.

Ann looked up at the new waiter. Something funny happened to the oxygen in her lungs.

It felt like 'Encounter' scene between Joker and Panther in _Phantom Thieves V_. A beautiful boy looked down at her, his piercing sparking like starlight under the naked décor bulbs. Ren reached for a pencil tucked in his wet mussed hair, his mandala sleeve tattoos warping with triceps protruding in flex. Such a nondescript motion seemed so romanticised, just like in the game.

Except – in 'Encounter', Panther had her cool together and smiled composedly at Joker. Here, Ann was '! Takamaki .exe has crashed. Virus identified: Pretty bad boy !'.

Ren grinned at her.

"Do you have an order?" he asked with his words carrying suggestions of dulcet and sly.

Ann's mouth went dry. She felt two kinds of thirsty.

_Don't blush. Don't blush. Don't blush. _

Ann blushed.

Eep!

Ren widened his grin, knowing all too well the potency of its diabolical charm. Beneath the table, Ann crossed and re-crossed her legs, pressing them close.

Who is this girl? wondered Ren.

This was the first time Ren chanced on a cerulean-eyed customer in their café. A pretty face too. Not full-Japanese for sure. That unbridled natural blonde hair; a delicate jaw above her vulnerable neck. Ren was particularly 'interested'in her full lips.

Ann tried to say something. She had written 15,000+ words this month. Choreographed sequences in paragraphs with great fidelity and nuance. Surely she could manage a 'Hi' here?

"Ha…Ha…ee…" Ann bumbled and squeaked.

Shiho rolled her eyes at Ann. Typical.

"Ann will have a Kopi Luwak. Pretty deserving," said Shiho.

_Ann? What's her surname? _thought Ren.

Ren scribbled the drink code on the notepad.

"How about you, Suzui-san? The usual Vienna Coffee?"

Before Shiho could get a word in, the entrance door slammed open. Like a western cowboy movie, everyone fell hush on cue, looking at the newcomer. At the bar, Ryuji raised an eyebrow, wiping a tumbler with a cloth.

A foot stepped in. It was not cowboy boots. It was Prada.

Ren froze.

Her pink frost gloss lips parted. The girl announced, "I'm looking for Amamiya Ren. Dead or alive."

Stricken silence followed.

Yusuke, who was more in awe of the café's simulacrum of a wild western, reached for the switches and thumbed off all the lights in the Leblanc. Dimness. A single switch flicked. A light bulb lit above Ren's head, highlighting him as the star of this drama. The stranger lasered on Ren.

Ren blinked, looking up at the bulb then glared at Yusuke. Stupid Film & Media students.

"You…" growled the girl.

_Who is she?_ thought Ann.

Ren pointed a finger-gun at the newcomer, as if an old friend showed up. Ann picked up a drop of sweat at his temple.

"Miki! How's it going? You never returned my tex-"

"Miki? Who the fuck is Miki?! It's Mika, asshole! And did you think you were being funny by giving me a plumbing service number?!" flared Mika.

"Plumbing? I completely made it up," Ren muttered to himself.

"What?!"

"I mean! _Really? _Wow. . .You know, I think I know what happened. You see, I accidentally got my old phone drenched so I had to change numbers and all that jazz," said Ren.

"Oh. Something else is going to get drenched, alright," Mika said coolly.

Ryuji sighed, turning on the rest of the lights.

"You know the drill. Grab a towel," Ryuji said to Yusuke.

"On it."

Each bulb in the aisleway lit-up, following Mika in an operatic quality. Passing a booth, she picked up a jug of iced water. Ren took half a step back, alarmed.

"Hold on now, Mika. I had to let you down, because…because I already have a girlfriend!" exclaimed Ren.

Mika paused with the jug, postponing Ren's icy morning shower. Her salon-treated eyebrows raised sceptically at Ren.

"A playboy like you? With a girlfriend? Who would that be?" demanded Mika.

"Why. . .she's the most beautiful person in this café of course…" Ren tried to stall, his eyes darting to Yusuke and Ryuji; S.O.S-ing for help. The unlike pair cracked like grins. 'Nah bro' their faces said. 'You're on your own'.

"Yeah? Who here is it - you think is prettier _than me_?" said Mika.

Just like the rest of the patrons in the café, Ann was wide-eyed at all of this.

Watching the unfolding show with enrapturement, Shiho failed to notice her braced elbow slowly sliding on the table. She accidentally knocked her glass of water, making a spilling clatter.

The distraction drew Ren's side-glance back to the mavourneens' table. The seepage of water was pooling towards the blonde girl Ren was heating up earlier; she was staring up at Ren as if the slapdash of inspiration had whipped onto her.

_Ann. . .that was her name_, thought Ren.

Ren returned Ann's gaze a moment longer than was necessary, his visual awareness saturated by the blue intelligence and desire. Something was tickling at the back of Ren's heart. It was not love at first sight. Rather - a sense of foreboding. Realising something inevitable was going to happen between the two of them.

Mika looked in-between Ren and Ann. Misunderstanding locked in.

"Oh-hoh. So you're the wench trying to steal Ren-kun from me?" said Mika.

_When did I graduate from 'asshole' to 'Ren-kun'? _thought Ren.

Ann, as always in the many parallel universes where she first crosses path with Mika – is first oblivious to the jealous woman's ire.

"Huh?" said Ann.

At least in some of these alternate universes, Mika was not in possession of a jug of ice water with cubes and lemon slices. Which would make for an unfortunate incident if she were to impulsively splash water on Ann. Which unfortunately, is what happened here.

A wash of cold and wet spat on Ann, making her half-gasp, half jump back on her seat. There was a collective hush from the crowd watching; their whooshed inhale was the sound made before a match tossed on a petrol pool erupting in fire. This fire was Shiho Suzui taking off her prescriptions. Knuckles cracked gangster style.

Shiho's fist landing on Mika's face made Ren think of a human dough face in distortion. Mika's make-up touched cheek flattened and pushed her pink-frost lips into a pucker; which gave the semblance that she would come second to a puffer fish in a beauty contest. Mika's eyes bulged, the jug releasing from her hand.

As the small girl jumped on the tall model and began laying the smackdown, Ann shrieked. Ren's attention tore away from the Leblanc's entertaining UFC match - to find Ann struggling to remove an agitated ice cube that was trying to snuggle into the crevice of her boobs. Not that Ren could blame the cube; he probably would have done the same in its shoes, were his existence a melting matter of ice that wished to die squished between a pair of nice tits.

_Humans are always melting through life_, Ren philosophised amidst the screaming and hair pulling.

"Calm down," Ren said to Ann.

Ren steadied Ann by the shoulders, flicking a lemon slice off her top's strap. The ice cube's quicksand dive into heaven deaccelerated.

"May I?" Ren gently asked Ann, leaning down towards her.

The pandemonium of Ryuji and Yusuke trying to separate the two girls fighting faded into irrelevant static for Ann in this intimate distance with Ren. She blushed a furious scarlet. Did that Mika bitch throw hot water on her? Ann thought. It had to be that. Not this stupidly sexy guy in front of her.

Ann gave the smallest of perceptible nods.

Ren's fingers dipped into Ann's chest. She bit her lips to force back any startled moans. The sliding sensation of his index dipped dexterous. Ren's hand paused. Ann looked back up at his dark grey eyes. Ann had to have imagined it – the smouldering burn of powerful lust folding into curiosity, folding into the unreadable.

Ren scooped out the ice cube. Ann's jaw dropped when Ren casually plopped the cube in his mouth like it was a snack. He pursed his lips, feeling a touch of guilt.

"I'm sorry," said Ren.

_You better be sorry. That cube should have been my-_

"What are you sorry for?" Ann asked, ever-polite.

"You got in this mess because of me."

Despite her soaked state, Ann felt a rising sense of giddiness. This was it. She found him. Her muse.

Ann pressed a finger to her lip, tilting her head coy.

"Maybe…you can make it up to me?" suggested Ann.

"What would that entail?" Ren asked bemused.

"I'm writing this fan fiction. . ."

* * *

_7 months later._

▌flanfiction .net

▌▌Log In: Scarlett

▌▌▌Password: GoneWithDWind39

• • • • _Loading reviews._

▌clock048: Finished reading the last chapter. Really enjoyed this long-fic you wrote. Watching Joker's development from a jaded bad boy who became charmed and tamed by Panther's femme fatale charm. Very attractive pairing. Thanks for writing such an awesome story! Enjoy that vacation with your bf you mentioned in your Author's Note. You definitely deserve the rest! :)

-End-

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**Special thanks to Stormy Panthera for advising me on fandom and reviewer quirks. **


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